'Timor' is an
island at the south end of the
Malay Archipelago, divided between the independent state of
East Timor, and
West Timor, part of the
Indonesian province of
East Nusa Tenggara with the surface of 11,883
sq mi (30,777
km²). The name is a variant of ''timur'',
Malay for "east"; it is so called because it is at the east end of a chain of islands.
Language
The official language of
East Timor are
Tétum and
Portuguese, while
West Timor is
Indonesian.
Geography
To the south and southeast of Timor is
Oceania. To its northwest is the island of
Sulawesi, and to its west, the island of
Sumba. To the west-northwest of Timor are the islands of
Flores and
Alor, and to its northeast are the
Barat Daya Islands, including
Wetar.
Timor has older geology and lacks the volcanic nature of the
Lesser Sunda Islands. The orientation of the main axis of the island also differs from its neighbors. These features have been explained as the result of being on the northern edge of the
Indo-Australian Plate as it pushes into the
South East Asia.
Flora and fauna
Timor, together with the
Lesser Sunda Islands to the northwest and the smaller islands to the northeast, is covered by
tropical dry broadleaf forests. Many trees are
deciduous or partly deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season. Timor, the Barat Daya Islands, and the smaller islands to the northeast of Timor constitute the
Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion.
In prehistory, Timor was the abode of extinct
giant monitor lizards similar to the
Komodo dragon. Like
Flores and
Sulawesi, Timor was also once a habitat of extinct
dwarf stegodonts, relatives of
elephants.
History
As the nearest island with a European settlement at the time, Timor was the destination of
William Bligh and seamen loyal to him following the infamous
mutiny on the ''Bounty'' in 1789. It was also where survivors of the wrecked ''
HMS Pandora'', sent to arrest the ''Bounty'' mutineers, landed in 1791 after that ship sank in the
Great Barrier Reef.
The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries:
West Timor, which was known as Dutch Timor from the
1800s until
1949 when it became Indonesian Timor, a part of the nation of
Indonesia which was formed from the old
Netherlands East Indies; and
East Timor which was known as
Portuguese Timor from
1596 until
1975. It includes the
enclave of
Oecussi-Ambeno in West Timor. The
Netherlands and
Portugal did not formally resolve the matter of the boundary until
1912.
Japanese forces occupied the whole island from
1942 to
1945. They were resisted in a
guerrilla campaign led initially by
Australian
commandos. (See
Battle of Timor.)
Following the uprising against colonial rule an
Indonesian invasion in
1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and was known as ''Timor Timur'' or 'Tim-Tim' for short. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country's 27
th province, but this was never recognised by the
United Nations or
Portugal. The people of East Timor resisted Indonesian forces in a prolonged guerilla campaign. (See:
Indonesian rule in East Timor).
Following a referendum held in
1999, under a
UN sponsored agreement between
Indonesia and
Portugal, in which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia, East Timor achieved independence in
2002 and is now officially known as
Timor-Leste.
One of the greatest fears of the Indonesian Government concerning East Timor has always been the possibility of the western part of the island being encouraged, after the eastern part's independence, to attempt to join the latter in a fully independent island-nation. Indonesian intelligence confirmed the arousal of a Timor Raya (
Great Timor) movement, active since
2001, in the island's western side.
[1]
See also
★
Great Timor
External links
★
East Timor Law Journal Publishes available English translations of the laws of the National Parliament, the Government, UNTAET legislation, legal articles & research sources.
★
Minding the Timor Gap from
Dollars & Sense
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